Tearable tabs for preparation of newsprint rolls



Sept. 26, 1961 c. J. FRANCIK TEARABLE TABS FOR PREPARATION OF NEWSPRINTROLLS Filed Oct. 25, 1957 FIG. I

FIG.4

FIG.5

FIG. 7

United States Patent 3,001,735 TEARABLE TABS FOR PREPARATION OFNEWSPRINT ROLLS Carl JohnFrancik, Palos Heights, Ill., assignor, bymesne assignments, to R. Hoe & Co., a corporation Filed Oct. 23, 1957,Ser. No. 691,862 2 Claims. (Cl. 242-585) My invention relates totearable tabs of adhesively coated paper for use in the preparation ofrolls of printing paper before splicing the web-end of the roll to anexp1r1ng web in a rotary-press printing plant, and will be describedwith reference to the drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows schematically a roll of newsprint prepared for insertioninto the reel stand of a printing press;

FIG. 2 shows schematically an axial view of a reel stand with theprepared roll of paper ready for splicing;

FIG. 3 shows the new tab from the side to be adhesively attached to theweb-end of the roll of newsprint;

FIG. 4 shows the reverse side of the same tab; and

FIGS. 5, 6, 7 show the tab in respectively different stages ofapplication.

In rotary-press printing plants, particularly newspaper printing plants,it is necessary to preserve continuity of operation by splicing a newroll of paper to the web still being fed to the printing press from aroll about to expire. For such splicing, the new roll is first preparedby attaching the leading edge of the web to the next wrap 'by means oftabs of adhesively coated paper, and thereafter applying an adhesive toV- or W-shaped areas of the web end.

The roll of newsprint shown in FIG. 1 is prepared in this manner. Twotabs 1, 2 of gummed paper are adhesively attached to the leading edge ofthe web, which edge originally extends as shown by a broken line 3. Thetabs 1, 2 then secure the web end to the roll surface of the nextfollowing wrap 4.

Thereafter, the web end is provided with an adhesive. There are severalways of doing this, but since no particular one is essential to the useof the tabs according to the invention, it will suffice to describe onlyone mode which is particularly favorable for flying paster operation,i.e. does not require stopping or retarding the printing press whilemaking the splice. As shown in FIG. 1, two strips of adhesive tape 5 and6 are mounted on the web end so as to extend in V-shape away from thetab 1; and similar lengths of tape 7, 8 are applied in V-shape at tab 2.The web portions below the tapes 5, 6, 7, 8 are then torn away along thetapes so that the web edge assumes generally W-shaped configuration. Theunderside of each tape, i.e. the side adhering to the end of the web, iscoated with a water-moistening adhesive. The reverse side, namely theone that remains exposed in FIG. 1, is coated with a normally dry andwaterinsoluble adhesive that must be activated by an organic solvent.

After thus preparing the roll, it is rotatably mounted on a spiderassembly 11 of the reel stand 12, and the spider assembly is thenrotated in the direction shown by an arrow 13 until the roll extendsclose to the web 14 then passing from the expiring roll 15 over a guideroller 16 to the printing press. At the proper time, the roll 10 isaccelerated to the peripheral speed of the expiring roll 15. One way ofdoing this is to turn the spider assembly so that roll 10 isfrictionally entrained by the running web 14. When the proper speed isreached, an organic solvent is sprayed onto the surface of roll 10 sothat the adhesive is activated. As a result, the web end of roll 10 isspliced to the expiring web 14, the tabs 1, 2 (FIG. 1) are torn, and theweb of the new roll is entrained toward the printing press. Thereafter,a tail cutter assembly (not shown) severs the expiring 3,001,735Patented Sept. 26, 1961 r6 CC web 14 from the remainder of roll 15.There are other ways, as regards the particular operating stage, inwhich the adhesive is applied or activated, as well as other ways ofaccelerating the new roll, but these particulars are not essential tothe invention proper, all having in common the same requirements asregards the properties of the tabs 1, 2 described presently.

The tabs must have enough strength to reliably hold the web end of theroll against the roll periphery during handling and mounting of the newroll and even under such stresses as are produced when a roll expands orwhen the roll is accelerated on the stand by a driving force acting uponits periphery. On the other hand, as soon as the web of the roll isspliced to the expiring web, the tear strength of the tabs must besufiiciently low to permit proper tearing so that the new roll can beentrained and can be unwound.

While the tabs heretofore available for the abovedescribed purpose aregenerally suflicient to meet these requirements, it happens occasionallythat the tabs will prematurely tear or will not properly tear at themoment the splice is completed. Any such event, however, may requirestopping the printing operation and thus entail considerable loss. It istherefore an object of my invention to provide improved tabs thatreliably eliminate such trouble.

To this end, and in accordance with my invention, the tabs, in additionto their adhesive areas, are provided with a reinforcing strip ofparticular size and location as described presently with reference toFIGS. 3 to 7.

One side 21 of the T-shaped paper tab is provided with two adhesivecoatings 22 and 23 consisting of a watermoistening adhesive as customaryfor gummed tape. The two areas 22 and 23 are rectangular and extendalong the vertical edges of the cross-bar shaped top portion of the T,but stay short of the vertical bottom portion of the T-shape. Areinforcing strip 24 is bonded to the side 21 of the tab member andextends along the vertical center axis of the T-shape in spaced relationto the adhesive areas 22 and 23.

The reinforcing strip 24 may consist of adhesive paper tape. However, itis preferable to give the strip 24 greater tear strength than the paperof which the tab member is made. For that reason, the strip 24 consistspreferably of regenerated cellulose as available in the trade under thename Cellophane. Strip 24 has relatively small width so that the exposedareas 25 and 26 between strip 24 and adhesive coatings 22, 23 are widerthan the strip to facilitate proper tearing of the tab in areas 25 and26 at the proper moment.

The reverse side 22 of the tab is provided with another adhesive coating27 of water-moistening material. The coating 27 extends from nearly thebottom edge of the T-shape over part of the tab surface but stays shortof the horizontal bar portion of the T-shape.

The tab is folded, as a step of its manufacture, along the broken line28 indicated in FIG. 4, so that the three adhesive areas 22, 23 and 27lie at the same side as shown in FIG. 5. This makes it possible to wetthe three areas by passing the tab once through a labeler or othermoistening device. The fold is also used as a guide for applying thetab, as shown in FIG. 6, by sandwiching the end 28 of the newsprintbetween the two portions of the tab in its folded condition. Thus theadhesive and previously wetted areas 22 and 23 are adhered to the rearside of the web end 28. Next, the adhesive portion 27 is turned down andadhered to the next wrap as shown in FIG. 7.

After a roll of newsprint has been made up as described above withreference to FIG. 1, the tab may tear at the points 29 and 30 indicatedin FIG. 7, when the roll expands or the end of the web is pulledlaterally in either direction. The vulnerable points 29 and 36 are dueto the fact that the tear strength of the paper material used for thetab must be low so that the edge strength of the tab is also low.However, by virtue of the strip of reinforcing material 24 extendingthrough the center of the tab, the tab is strengthened sulficiently toprevent its tearing along a line between the two points 29 and 30.Consequently, the tearing stresses that may occur prior to the splicingoperation proper will not cause complete severance of the tab so thatthe web end remains held against the surface of the roll. However, whena splice is completed, the tab tears in the two areas 25' and '26, forinstance along the tear lines shown at 31 and 32. Dun'ng this operation,the reinforcing strip 24 may act as a tear edge. Thus, while thereinforcing strip increases the strength of the tab in tension and alsoprevents tearing entirely across its width, the strip does not interferewith the desired tearing when a splice is completed.

The tab may have a vertical length of 2 /2 inches, a horizontal width of1%" in the bottom portion and 2 A" in the top portion, a reinforcingstrip of A being sufficient with the just-mentioned dimensions. It willbe understood, however, that these dimensions are not critical and aredescribed only by way of example.

I claim:

1. A tearable tab for temporarily attaching the web end of a roll ofnewsprint to the next wrap of the roll, comprising a T-shaped tab memberof paper having on one side an adhesive coating extending from thebottom of the T-shape upward a distance short of the horizontal barportion of said T-shape, two adhesive coatings on the other side of saidmember, said two latter coatings extending along the respective verticaledges of said horizontal portion of said T-shape and being horizontallyspaced from each other a distance larger than the width of the verticalportion of said T-shape, and a reinforcing strip of adhesive tapeattached to said other side of said member and having a non-adhesiveexposed surface, said strip extending centrally over the vertical lengthof said tab member and being spaced from said latter two adhesivecoatings, said strip having greater tear strength and smaller width thaneach of the two adjacent non-adhesive areas of paper that remain exposedon said vertical portion of said T-shape, whereby said strip preventstearing of the tab across its width but permits tearing of the tabsubstantially along said strip.

2. A tearable tab for temporarily attaching the web end of a roll ofprinting paper to the next wrap of the roll, comprising a T -shaped tabmember of paper having on one side an adhesive coating extendingsubstantially from the bottom of the T-shape upward a distance short ofthe horizontal bar portion of said T-shape, two adhesive coatings on theother side of said member, said two latter coatings extending along therespective vertical edges of said horizontal bar portion of said T-shapeand being horizontally spaced from each other a distance at least equalto the width of said vertical portion of said T-shape, and a reinforcingstrip bonded to said other side of said member and extending centrallyover the entire vertical length of said'tab member, said strip beinghorizontally spaced from each of said latter two adhesive coatings adistance greater than the width of said strip, whereby said stripprevents tearing of the tab across its width but permits tearing of thetab substantially along said strip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS168,536 Snow Oct. 5, 1875 606,366 Southard June 28, 1898 1,291,382 BohanIan. 14, 1919 2,039,696 Wood May 5, 1936 2,080,734 Mull May 18, 19372,553,928 McMullen May 22, 1951 2,646,938 Wieking Julyv 28, 19532,719,804 Carlson Oct. 4, 1955 2,786,789 Carlson Mar. 26, 1957 2,805,183Higgins Sept. 3, 1957 2,920,835 Gibson Jan. 12, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS734,478 Germany Apr. 16, 1943 872,398 France June 5, 1942

